DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake men's tennis team has been selected to participate in the 2015 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend (Jan. 24-25, 2015). The Bulldogs will travel to Waco, Texas, as the event's second seed to battle third-seeded University of Miami on the campus of Baylor University.

Drake finished the 2014 campaign ranked 45th nationally, while Miami was rated 55th. In the other half of the draw, No. 6 Baylor will face No. 65 Tulane.

By virtue of their top-64 finish in the final ITA rankings, the Bulldogs earned an automatic bid to the event. The ITA held a national draft on Wednesday (June 4) with teams getting to choose one of 15 four-team locations.

The ITA called out to each school, in rank order, at predetermined times. The highest ranked team on the board not hosting selected which of the 15 sites they wanted to go to. When called they chose where they wanted to play, then the next highest team was called and selected, and so on.

First-round winners and losers face each other in the second round. The 15 teams that win both matches advance to ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Illinois, played two weeks later, Feb. 13-16, 2015.